Best Middle Schools in California

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Find the best California middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish California test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the CAST and Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the California Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2018)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 2777)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
060318011283	2401	Crossroads Charter Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	418 West 8th St.	Hanford	93230	Kings County	Armona Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(559) 583-5060	125	8	15.5	82.4%	17 (13.6%)	5 (4.0%)	94 (75.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (6.4%)								16.8	19.8	2279	122
060160414051	2402	Aspire East Palo Alto Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1286 Runnymede St.	East Palo Alto	94303	Santa Clara County	Aspire East Palo Alto Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 614-9100	564	19	30.4	88.5%	7 (1.2%)	41 (7.3%)	475 (84.2%)	2 (0.4%)	2 (0.4%)	21 (3.7%)	16 (2.8%)								16.8	17.6	2403	1
062825004361	2403	Jefferson Middle	Public	6-8	823 Acacia St.	Oceanside	92058	San Diego County	Oceanside Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 966-4700	466	24	19.6	93.8%	22 (4.7%)	11 (2.4%)	399 (85.6%)	11 (2.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	21 (4.5%)	$13,449							16.7	17.2	2422	19
064074006732	2404	Loma Vista Environmental Science Academy	Public	K-8	146 Rainier St.	Vallejo	94589	Solano County	Vallejo City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 556-8550	407	16	25.7	79.4%	23 (5.7%)	85 (20.9%)	231 (56.8%)	38 (9.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.5%)	24 (5.9%)								16.7	8.7	2729	325
063762006375	2405	Tropico Middle	Public	6-8	3180 Mojave-Tropico Rd.	Rosamond	93560	Kern County	Southern Kern Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 256-5040	820	41	19.7	81.8%	163 (19.9%)	75 (9.1%)	531 (64.8%)	15 (1.8%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	33 (4.0%)	$5,433							16.7	13.4	2574	169
063801006413	2406	Grunsky Elementary	Public	K-8	1550 North School St.	Stockton	95205	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7200	464	20	23.6	88.8%	21 (4.5%)	12 (2.6%)	381 (82.1%)	26 (5.6%)	4 (0.9%)	3 (0.6%)	16 (3.4%)	$7,713							16.6	15.8	2474	68
060255514590	2407	New Hope Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	201 Jessie Ave.	Sacramento	95838	Sacramento County	New Hope Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 649-5077	166	15	11.3	78.3%	21 (12.7%)	27 (16.3%)	93 (56.0%)	17 (10.2%)	4 (2.4%)	3 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)								16.6	14.7	2521	114
060285004440	2408	Black Diamond Middle	Public	7-8	4730 Sterling Hill Dr.	Antioch	94531	Contra Costa County	Antioch Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 779-7460	343	18	19	72.0%	34 (9.9%)	106 (30.9%)	133 (38.8%)	44 (12.8%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.9%)	22 (6.4%)	$7,327							16.6	14.9	2515	107
062955009602	2409	Desert Springs Middle	Public	6-8	66-755 Two Bunch Palms Trail	Desert Hot Springs	92240	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 251-7200	740	33	22.2	96.9%	52 (7.0%)	33 (4.5%)	624 (84.3%)	5 (0.7%)	4 (0.5%)	3 (0.4%)	17 (2.3%)	$12,837							16.6	15.3	2497	88
063417005354	2410	Curtis Middle	Public	7-8	1050 North Delrosa Dr.	San Bernardino	92410	San Bernardino County	San Bernardino City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 388-6332	707	34	20.6	97.7%	16 (2.3%)	44 (6.2%)	621 (87.8%)	10 (1.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	14 (2.0%)	$6,607							16.6	20.8	2222	188

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Pacific Islander Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, CAST Science test scores released by the California Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 10, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the California Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.